Cetorhinus maximus. The basking shark is the usual suspect when a sea serpent washes ashore. As it rots, the jaws and gills fall away, leaving a small head on a long spine. In 1808, Sir Everard Home called the Stronsay Beast a decomposed basking shark, though the Orkney men measured 55 ft against a confirmed record of 40 ft 3 in. In 1934, the Henry Island carcass near Prince Rupert was identified as one. In 2019, Robert L. France suggested the 1872 Leda sea serpent was a basking shark tangled in fishing gear.
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